updated 01:35 pm EDT, Thu July 18, 2013

Verizon has joined the push to provide options for earlier upgrades, following on from similar plans revealed by AT&T and T-Mobile earlier this month. Verizon Edge will allow customers to upgrade their phone after six months of ownership, provided they pay a monthly fee and trade in their existing mobile device at the same time.

Subscribers can choose to spread out the full retail cost of the smartphone over 24 months rather than the normal subsidized price plans offered by the carrier. After six months, the customer can opt to upgrade, though as well as trading in the phone, they will also be charged enough to make sure they pay off 50 percent of the phone's retail price.

Just as in the AT&T Next program, there are a few sticking points that may be an issue for some customers. For a start, Verizon does not mention anything about lowering the cost of the service plan itself, with the same cost being applied for normal subsidized contracts and for those under Edge. Without taking into account the subsidy, customers will end up effectively paying twice for the device in the form of the service plan and Edge. The extra cost will dissuade those seeking to use their phones long-term from taking up the offer, leaving it potentially attractive only to those compelled to frequently upgrade their device.

Verizon will be offering Edge to subscribers on Share Everything plans from August 25th.

Great - you pay an extra monthly, and then you get a new phone, new contract, and you have to give up a phone so they can buff it up and resell. Now wonder Verizon is jumping in - they all come off looking like good guys when they will actually make a nice profit on this great program.